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Go to the Restaurant at the End of the Beach on... - Review of Hotel Riu Emerald Bay

We were at the Riu from April 5th to 19th and it was great. There were six of us traveling together and everything turned out great. check in was handy - got our bracelets on the bus, and picked up our room packages seamlessly. The staff were amazing! George (papa) in the lobby bar was absolutely the best bartender ever! David at the front lobby was super friendly and very helpful! The beds are quite uncomfortable but again, it's not 'home'. The beach was beautiful and loved the fact that the rope was there to keep the venders from approaching you while you were on the lounge chairs. Plenty of beach chairs available. Go to the restaurant at the end of the beach on the right - amazing food and drinks and decent prices. The ride into mazatlan is like 15 min, we hired Franco for the day and were totally impressed with him - too bad we didn't know about him until the last couple of days, otherwise we would have used his services for the whole trip! Mazatlan is beautiful and NEVER felt unsafe at ANY moment, so for those of you who say to stay away from Mazatlan, how about you actually venture out and off the beaten path and get to know the locals, who by the way are the most kindest people out there! Make sure you call Franco if you want to go downtown shopping! Overall we would definitely go back to Mazatlan. Message us if you have any questions! Pacos Friend and Pacos Friends Wife!

Stayed April 2013

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The hotel looks lovely from the outside. Inside it is a busy mess that needs more attentive and polite staff with an upgrade in the elevator system. The food is average. The drinks are average.The staff is average. The rooms are okay but not cleaned well. The staff must be overworked and have to rush to make their quota of cleaned rooms because the quality of cleanliness is just not there. The restaurants are okay but the nothing stands out other than the incredibly long waits for the food lineups on the beach, and the wait for the elevators. I get a terribly eerie feeling at the elevators knowing about that lady from Canada who was almost beaten to death in the hotel a few years ago. I think the RIU needs to improve their staff to guest ratio. Set out wasp traps as the wasps were horrible. Too many to tolerate sitting outside by the pool with a drink. The RIU seems to cater to the locals with an incredible deal of $70 per ROOM for locals. So the weekend shows busloads upon busloads of local families enjoying the hotel with 6-10 per room and 1000 screaming misbehaved kids infiltrating the pool area. You can see the multitudes of buses in the parking lot. It only adds to the unorganized food lines and elevator waits. I don't love it and I know there are better places to stay in Mazatlan. The place is on sale alot because they do need to fill the hundreds of rooms. I wouldn't recommend it.

Room Tip: Choose a different hotel.

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Stayed April 2013, traveled with family

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Hotel was clean and staff very friendly and helpful. Many did not speak English though. Very crowded though. Brought locals in by the bus loads. A lot of children present. Good for family not so much for relaxing adult time. Food was typical buffet with Mexican cuisine prevailing at breakfast lunch and dinner. Drinks were not very good. Coffee is not their thing. More of a 3 star family w/kids vacation. Trip was not expensive though.

Room Tip: Don't know. Three women slept in 2 double beds pushed together. Not what we booked. All are nois...

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Stayed May 2013, traveled with friends

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Ask sos45jwn about Hotel Riu Emerald Bay

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When I first arrived to this hotel I simply could not believe hoe fancy it was. The rooms had very comfortable beds. The staff was also very attentive. My favorite thing was that there were eight pools all with special features like in pool chairs. I also loved that they had a very large amount of restaurant options including a buffet and a chinese and Mexican restaurant. At night there was also live entertainment which I really enjoyed they had a Mama Mia show one of the nights I was there it was very fun to watch.

Stayed July 2012, traveled with family

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Ask Luz Elena R about Hotel Riu Emerald Bay

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This is my 3rd visit to Riu Emerald Bay. We stayed from May 3-10. This time we came with four family members. I think after 3 visits I can give a good idea what to expect. I found the staff quite friendly in all our interactions. We needed a wheelchair for our grandfather, I emailed the hotel prior and when arrived they had arranged a chair for us $15 day. We requested that two of the rooms were close to each other and they arranged adjoining rooms that are very cool because they have a main door access then two separate room doors. So you could keep main door shut and open room doors to stay connected. We had the jacuzzi suite again which I would recommend highly. The tub takes 12 minutes to fill I timed it because someone complained about how long it took.Yes the hotel was I would say 80% locals and 20% Mixed. Once you realize that just work with it, I had been learning more Spanish and I found it went along way and had some real fun with some of the locals. We almost never waited for elevators and we were on 18. The food was pretty good. I always could find something I liked. There was bacon everyday so blt's were my breakfast of choice.We did go for mani and pedi at the spa and while they do a couple of things different it was an enjoyable experience. We did go down to Mr Lionso again but we were a little disappointed with the lobster this time but the shrimp both garlic and coconut were great along with the service. Was paid $965 from calgary and for all inclusive that's pretty good. But I will have to say that with Sunwing they stopped in Vancouver both ways and that suck. But all in all for what you pay it is a good value.I will also say that when flying with toddlers it would be nice if they had to have their own seat. Picture this, last row my 6'5 boyfriend, me in the middle and a 6' man and a 2 year old. In the seat in front of us the same scenario but the mom with the twin. They cry, scream, go back and forth between the mom and grandfather. Try to eat, read or have a nap. Good luck, now their problems become your problems. I watched a poor couple on the way back try to juggle the grandfathers food try with his own while the child pitched a fit. Parents buy a seat for your kids use a car seat others would like to enjoy the flight.

I was on the last Sunwing trip to Mazatlan, May 14-21, and had an overall great experience. The beach was fantastic to walk or suntan, but the waves too high to swim. One child almost drowned. But there are plenty of pools to swim in. If you request premium liquor in your drinks they have it, if not-you get a cheaper version. I found all the staff very pleasant and helpful. We did the zip line trip out of the restaurant just a few steps north of the hotel, it was cheaper and better than the hotel's one. We also used the same company for our tour of mazatlan, we had our own guide that took us around the city in an air conditioned van. I would recommend hooking up with this company, and the food in the restraunt was great-cheap beer and great coconut shrimp. Since we were the last flight down, the hotel was mainly Mexican's on vacation. True, they don't know elevator in and off etiquette, but other than that, it added to the cultural experience. Food was good, you can always find something you like. We didn't bother doing any of the a la carte's, and glad of it. Stick to the main buffet and walk down the beach to the local restraunt for shrimps. Bring a coffee maker for your room or walk to the sports bar each morning for a decent cup of coffee. Also, bring your own wine, stop at duty free on the way down, their wine is horrible. Entertainment poor, but we always ate late and were tired from a full day of sun and didn't bother to watch. Sound system needs replaced, and they really need to improve the entertainment, Rooms very clean and well attended. Don't ask for the 18th floor as the balcony is so small you can bearly sit, we moved to another floor and had a decent size balcony. Overall, a great experience and would definitely go back. Worst part was the trouble with Park n' Fly-due to road construction around the airport-we waited forever for the shuttle bus, but our coupon we printed off the internet did work, unlike others.

Room Tip: Careful not to get a room ending in 33 as there is a wall that blocks your view of the sunset. 18th...

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Stayed May 2013, traveled as a couple

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Well, I have been to a 5* hotel like Grand Sunset Princess. This one is not even close. It may look nice on the picture, but the service level is more like 4*, and the territory of the hotel is tiny. There is nowhere to go and there is no much you can do there. Take away the building (these are just a bunch of rooms) and what's left is what you get. Next, there was nothing in the bathroom, except of soap :) No shampoo, no bathing gel. Next, nobody swims in the ocean, impossible, the waives are to high, always a red flag - not to swim. Next, The pool is small for the size of the hotel, too many people in there, and since the washroom are far away, nobody bothers to go there :( Next, I was traveling solo, and it was really boring, zero entertainment, nothing, just some clowns for kids, and you obviously cannot leave the hotel, it's Mexico, not safe, especially in this province. There was nothing to do at in the resort except of eating and staying in the pool. Next, the food was OK, but definitely not 5*. Food is almost the same each day. Instead of salads, they just have sliced vegetables. The service was normal. The restaurants - forget about it. There 2 of them - the Asian, and the Mexican, where you get the same food as in the buffet, except, you need to wake up before 7 AM to have a chance to make a reservation. I never had a chance :) Next, the rooms are OK, clean, everything works, except of the TV, which I like to watch relaxing in the room after lunch, however, the TV was so dark, that it was almost impossible to watch anything. Next, The view from the room is great. The beach is good, but as I said, you cannot swim in the ocean, so what's the point of coming to this place? Next, only Canadians and Mexicans. Too many Mexicans with kids, way too many. They jump into adult pool, pee in there, etc...) Next, the drinks felt cheap, like the cheapest alcohol you can find. Even the barmen said that the wine is bad, very cheap, they open the bottle and it stays open for weeks. This is not acceptable for a 5*. I got serious stomach problem on the first day, after that just stopped drinking alcohol. Next, the excursions - didn't take any, because I found them very boring. The excursions at Mayan Rivera were fantastic, like the http://www.xelha.com/ eco-park. But here I didn't find excursions I could be interested in, no eco-parks, no pyramids. Next, the territory of the resort is not green at all, there are almost no trees, you can see it on the picture. Don't know why the RIU Inc didn't plant anything, and all the beach area is under the open sun, nowhere to hide, no shadow.That's about it. It's probably OK for people that come as company and getting drunk all day. I will not be coming back, and will not be selecting RIU network as my resort next time I travel. I had a very strong feeling that the corporation was trying to save money on absolutely everything giving just a fancy look to the hotel.

Room Tip: All rooms face ocean. Top floors - better view, longer to get there, the elevators stop between the...

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Riu Emerald Bay Mazatlan

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